MHHC Chapter 13

Anxiety

The biggest change Adelheid noticed after Valentin's return was the attitude of the servants and guards.

What had once been grudging courtesy—if she was lucky enough to receive any at all—now took on a properly respectful appearance. Of course, it was still just for show.

"Um, at this hour, really, what business could you possibly have..."

The stablemaster's expression changed moment by moment just from her slight delay in answering. In the past, impatient complaints about her acting like the lady of the house would have been hurled directly at her face.

'It's remarkable how simple they are. Everything runs on the logic of strength.'

Adelheid pulled her shawl up to cover her nose and mouth as she looked around. The hot stench of horse manure with each breath was so intense that she longed for the chilly wind outside.

"I'm looking for something, so I came to take a quick look around. It won't take long."

"But, if you'd just tell me what you're looking for, I'll find it right away for you..."

The stablemaster had something to hide, apparently, following at her heels and chattering away.

Adelheid pretended not to hear as she walked on. What was she looking for? Even she didn't know the answer to that yet. She just instinctively felt she needed to check this place first, with only a vague expectation that she'd recognize some kind of 'sign' at first glance.

"What kind of sudden disaster is this, really..."

Adelheid ignored the stablemaster's disapproving glances as she thoroughly examined the spacious stable. She inspected everything—from the stallion that groaned as if counting down its last days, to the newborn filly from a few days ago, to the hay piled up like mountains.

Absurdly, the ominous signs she'd expected were nowhere to be found. Only then did she finally straighten her back.

"I heard the horses caused quite a commotion last night. Is there anything unusual?"

"Ah, if you mean that, it wasn't a big problem to begin with."

The stablemaster's expression relaxed somewhat.

"They got scared of something, that's for sure, but they calmed down quickly. One got spooked, so the rest followed suit and made a fuss."

"No horses were injured or attacked?"

"No, well. I don't know if you're aware, but horses are naturally skittish creatures. This sort of thing is hardly unusual. Especially in winter when forest beasts come down closer to the village."

At that moment, acrid smoke billowed in through the open shutters. Adelheid let the stablemaster's words flow in one ear and out the other as she approached the shutters where the smoke was seeping through. From the wide clearing behind the castle, connected to Regenbach Forest, smoke was rising into the air.

"That is..."

"Ah."

The stablemaster spoke as if it were nothing.

"There seems to have been a wolf pack attack at the ranch. A bunch of sheep were killed."

"...A pack? Are they certain it was wolves?"

"They say so, but there are more than a few suspicious points. Normally forest wolves, no matter how hungry, rarely attack human settlements, right? Even if they do, it's usually one or two animals that disappear, but fourteen were slaughtered all at once."

"......"

"The priests are keeping quiet about it to avoid worrying people, saying it was wolves, but it's all just a cover-up. Obviously it looks like the work of monsters, doesn't it?"

Beasts don't hunt more prey than they can handle, you know. At the stablemaster's added words, Adelheid crossed her arms in front of her chest, holding her elbows. She felt chilled somehow.

"The fact that the meat and organs were intact, but all the blood had completely disappeared—that alone tells you. Anyway, they've been burning them diligently since morning. If they let the rotting smell spread, even monsters that weren't around would come swarming."

"......"

"Don't worry too much. It might be rare in the south, but in the north, this happens once every few years."

Adelheid stared silently at the blackish smoke rising toward the sky. As the stablemaster said, such things were commonplace in Bitzleben. Northern people always lived close to death.

Life itself was barren and desolate, fierce and quarrelsome, with sparks flying and mud everywhere. Their behavior was savage—fighting in chaos one moment, then huddling together cozily by the fire the next. Everything had been horrifying at first, but after about three years of this life, it had become as familiar to her as her own skin.

That's how she knew. She could feel instinctively that somehow the ordinary daily life kept going wrong. An inexplicable sense of foreboding crept up on her without warning.

'Even if it's definitely the work of monsters, it's still strange.'

At the topmost Ansgar Territory, close to the Veil, it wasn't unusual for monsters to occasionally slip through one or two at a time. Livestock or people were sometimes injured, but they'd rarely caused trouble on this scale.

Getting close to a castle where humans lived meant prolonged exposure to Morig's sacred power that purified monsters.

'Normally they can't even cross Morig's Veil, and even if they do, they stagger around before turning to ash. Even if the Veil was slightly broken, sacred power should have remained... Could there have been an exceptionally strong individual?'

The fact was, they hadn't even found the ash remains left behind after a monster's destruction. If such remains had been discovered, priests would have been summoned immediately, causing all sorts of commotion that she couldn't have missed.

'The hypothesis I can consider is that the monster still hasn't been caught, hasn't been destroyed, and is hiding somewhere...'

Adelheid anxiously bit her lip.

'But how?'

Unless there was something inside Ansgar Castle that could replenish their power, they should have already...

"Your Grace!"

Lost in deep thought, Adelheid snapped to attention at the voice calling her. She turned her head toward the sound to see a young page standing at the stable entrance.

He was a boy the head butler kept close and favored.

The boy, whose face scrunched up at the terrible smell, hurried toward Adelheid.

"I heard you were here and wondered, but I didn't think you'd actually be here. From now on, please use me, Yanik, for such trivial matters."

His tone suggested he absolutely couldn't tolerate her wandering around so casually. His face was full of indignation that made her feel embarrassed instead. She looked at the young page with somewhat curious eyes.

Perhaps because he was still young, or because he had such tremendous ambition and lust for power that he'd caught the head butler's eye at such a tender age. His attitude seemed twice as flexible in adapting as the adults. Adelheid gazed at the boy with curious eyes.

'Though it's not exactly welcome...'

It wasn't hers anyway, but her husband's prestige. Such light power that would vanish the moment Valentin favored another woman.

Adelheid shook off the thought and asked Yanik with concern.

"What's wrong? Does the butler urgently need me? Or has His Grace had another seizure?"

"What? No, neither of those."

"I told His Grace before coming out... He may not have understood. I keep forgetting that recently, communication hasn't been easy for him."

"Oh, it's really not like that. The Grand Duke is recovering his former brilliance and vigor more each day. It's all thanks to Your Grace."

He elegantly phrased the fact that Valentin hadn't thrown a tantrum even without her. Adelheid's face clouded at the obvious flattery.

"It's not my doing. His Grace has simply been too distressed until now. The only face he remembers happens to be mine... I think he felt particularly anxious mistaking everyone around him for strangers."

"As you say, he's gradually calming down as time passes. That he could recover so smoothly is entirely Your Grace's achievement, no matter what anyone says."

The gilding flowed like water. Adelheid shook her head.

"I really haven't done anything. Anyway, it's fortunate that His Grace's condition is rapidly improving. It was also improper for me, who should remain in the women's quarters, to enter His Grace's bedchamber without the priest's permission..."

"...Ah, mmm."

"Yes?"

"Northern customs are a bit different, but... No, never mind. Of course, Your Grace's words are absolutely correct."

"......"

"But please, visit him first sometimes. He'll be pleased."

Who knows. It was uncertain. Unless his memory never returned for the rest of his life, Valentin had once found even brushing past her utterly repulsive.

Perhaps once he regained his senses, he might want to completely erase even the memory of his brief obsession with her.

"I wonder. Anyway, please tell the butler that from this evening, I'll retire to my own room."

"Yes. Of course, the head butler will prepare everything without delay."

Adelheid tilted her head. Prepare? What? Was something changing? At Yanik's words, Adelheid narrowed her eyes suspiciously. But he seemed to have no intention of telling her right now.

'What on earth is he scheming?'

Sighing, her casually turned gaze landed on a corner of the stable. At first her gaze just passed by, but then it immediately returned. Adelheid's pale green eyes widened rapidly.

'What is that?'

At first she thought dust clumps were rolling around in the wind. But looking closely, those were rats and spiders. They were moving in orderly lines as if fleeing.

"......"

Just like right before a great disaster strikes.

The moment she realized this, the horses in the stable suddenly began stamping their feet. The stablemaster jumped in surprise and grabbed the reins of the frantic horse, patting its neck.

"Whoa, whoa. What's wrong all of a sudden? Calm down, calm down."

The agitated horses' snorting grew increasingly rough. Yanik stepped back toward the entrance in alarm.

'Monsters roaming freely and dead beasts, the unexplained wounds on Greta's body, and the revival of a corpse and Greta's warning, and that phrase from the old legend that beasts would know first.'

All of this just coincidentally overlapping? Once or twice might be coincidence, but at this point, it was certain something was behind it all. Adelheid's head snapped up.

Now there was only one way to confirm it.

"About the hunting dogs His Grace used to keep—where are they now?"

To put it simply, not a single hunting dog could cross the threshold of the Grand Duke's chamber. They were all too busy whimpering with their tails tucked tight. Every one of them was large-bodied, making it difficult even for Yanik, who had a good build, to hold them back against their strength.

The master of the hunt was worried the precious dogs might get injured, and when Yanik lost his grip on the leashes, he simply led all the dogs back to the cabin.

"Adele."

Adelheid had been staring blankly in the direction the master of the hunt had disappeared when she was startled by hands approaching to embrace her from behind. She jerked her shoulders up sharply and turned around, dodging his hands.

"...!"

But Valentin looked more surprised by her rejection. He clearly hadn't expected her to react so sensitively. The bewilderment in his golden eyes was plainly visible.

It was Adelheid who felt embarrassed by that reaction. Feeling she'd overreacted to something trivial, she stammered out an excuse.

"I, I was just startled..."

"......"

"I'm sorry. I didn't expect you to appear so suddenly."